


Holy Crab

by jongincident



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 04:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13896027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jongincident/pseuds/jongincident
Summary: Baekhyun has always thought of himself as one with the sea.





	Holy Crab

**Author's Note:**

> I started this fic in early October 2017 and ended it late December 2017. I wrote ~3k of this fic while on vacation in China, and 2/3 of that was written on my phone using Apple Notes, so if there are any rough parts, that's probably why! 
> 
> This fic is dedicated to my best friend, whose birthday was in mid-November but I couldn't finish it by then so I guess it'll just be a New Year's gift. She specifically requested the fic to take place in a fishing town and to be centered around a crab shack (I didn't even know what a "crab shack" was back then), and to use a writing style that combines Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen (which I recommend reading!) and the Chanbaek fic Children of the Storm by ink-and-stars (one of my fave chanbaek fics). Of course, I am not as talented as either of these authors, so by the end I deviated from their styles :(
> 
> This work is also inspired by In the Territory of the Dragon King, or at least the ending is. 
> 
> And with that, I hope you enjoy :)

 

** Holy Crab! **

 

Baekhyun has always thought of himself as one with the sea. It could be any kind of sea—tropical tides home of coral reefs, stormy waves that crash against rocky ships and sending them down below, or even out in the middle of nowhere, in which the only sight of 360 degrees is the sky kissing the water. 

 

He closes his eyes and inhales deeply, taking in the aroma of ocean salt that always lingers in the air. Lungs fill with serenity. His tongue flickers to moisten his lips, and he swears he can taste the ocean. It tastes like freedom, he thinks, and although it’s something he experiences on the daily, it’s a flavor that never exhausts his taste buds. Ahh...liberation at last. 

 

“Byun Baekhyun!” 

 

A holler jolts him back to his senses, back to the harshness of reality that slowly hammers away at his soul. Back to the tedious tasks for never-ending demands, to the robotized motions his fingers memorized so long ago. 

 

The smell of the sea is faint now as a new scent wafts into his nose. It’s slightly sweet, not fish-like at all, and extremely, _extremely_ fresh. 

 

To someone who is new to the area, the Crab Shack would seem like a wonder. (The term “shack” is just a friendly title. In reality, it’s a small, cozy restaurant that’s been in the family for generations, one of the only permanent places on the island, worn down by the wind and time.) Fresh seafood by the tons, stuffed in barrels brimming at the top, and more stacks on the countertops ready to be prepared. One wouldn’t believe that so many creatures existed in the ocean, yet here in the small fishing town of Jeju Island, the Shack is always found overflowing with the catches of the sea. 

 

But for Baekhyun, it’s not just an everyday sight, rather it’s been his life from before he could remember. Since the day his parents trusted him to not accidentally hurt himself, his free time consisted of an assortment of odd jobs around the Shack. Just simple things—washing dishes, cleaning empty crab shells, and perhaps the occasional role as a waiter. 

 

Now though, as his parents become increasingly feeble in their movements, they decided it was about time for their sons to have some purpose in their lives instead of spending their days idly locked inside. Thankfully, his brother Baekbeom oversees the business management, which was probably a reasonable choice considering Baekhyun’s lack of responsibility…

 

“Baekhyun! I need to go back home. Can you take over the register for now?” Baekbeom shouts, already halfway out of the restaurant with keys dangling from his mouth. 

 

Baekhyun mumbles in agreement, although he knows he has no choice anyway. 

 

He doesn’t mind running the business on his own for a while. In a town where virtually everyone are neighbors, family, or friends, it gets suffocating at times. Occasionally he finds himself craving for solitude, to hide without someone he’s known since birth judging his every move. He doesn’t know when, but somewhere along the years he’s made a life-altering realization: it’s not until one feels trapped in the opinions of others until they can truly appreciate the joy of tranquility. 

 

3… 2… 1… The shopkeepers bell crafted of sea shells jingles, alerting Baekhyun of an entering customer that Baekhyun predicted would come precisely at that moment. 

 

“Good morning Mrs. Bae.” Baekhyun paints a picture-perfect smile on his visage, carefully lifting the corners of his lips to flash eight straight, white top-teeth. It’s a formula he’s used countless times now engraved in the back of his head. The final product looks something along the lines of this: how-to-fake-a-smile-inconspicuously. 

 

“Baekhyun! Good to see you. Looks like Baekbeom is out today?” Mrs. Bae, the lady across the street is a stereotypical ahjumma, and although she’s not married to a CEO or born of wealth, she enjoys bickering, complaining, and meddling in everyone’s lives. 

 

“He’s coming back later, actually. Just your usual today?” The smile is becoming harder to maintain. 

 

“Well, you see, today we’re welcoming a new family to town...” Mrs. Bae leans onto the counter, sneaking into Baekhyun’s personal bubble. “They’re from the other side of the island. I heard they have a handsome son who’s about your age.” Her voice lowers into a whisper, and she cups her hand near her mouth as if someone is listening to their conversation. “I’m thinking of getting him with Irene.” 

 

Baekhyun raises his eyebrows, actually intrigued for once. There hasn’t been a newcomer in years, but in a town spilling with familiarity, he knows that a few fresh faces will stir up an outburst of curiosity. Personally, he doesn’t care too much to get to know the new neighbors, but he could get used to some new gossip in town. He finds it hilarious, really, knowing that the townspeople will obsess over the family for a week or two max, and once they’ve dug up all their dirty little secrets, they’ll become just another fish in the sea. 

 

“In that case, I recommend getting the Kumamoto oysters as a unique edition to your usual. It’s only native in Japan, you know.” Baekhyun winks. Ah, the sacrifices he makes for marketing. 

 

“Oh! Why didn’t you tell me that you sell these oysters earlier? I’ll take a few with my order then.” Mrs. Bae reaches out and pinches Baekhyun’s cheek, grinning from ear to ear. 

 

Baekhyun’s smile falters a little bit as he winces, and he tries his best to draw away casually from the over enthusiastic lady. He keeps his lips pressed together in a straight line, backing away to the entrance of the kitchen. 

 

He yanks the door open, peeks his head inside to the bustling activity of the cooks and waiters preparing for when the “for here” restaurant opens at noontime, and yells, “Mrs. Bae’s usual order with a bag of Kumamoto oysters!” The door slams to a shut as soon as he lets go of the handle. Baekhyun makes a mental note to get it fixed soon. 

 

He already knows the topic of discussion before he returns to the register, and can’t help but let out a chuckle when the first sentence that escapes Mrs. Bae’s lips as he returns to hearing vicinity is, “The new family’s son better be boyfriend material for Irene!”

 

** *** **

 

The Crab Shack ties Baekhyun down to the island. Or at least that’s his excuse, but the truth is a bit disappointing, and some would even say pathetic. As the years blur into the next, it seems that each blink of an eye means another farewell. Another friend lost across the sea, washed away like a treasure map in a bottle, never to return. 

 

He remembers his kindergarten class, when starry-eyed five year olds swallowed their dreams like they would come true. He recalls that for the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, all the other little kids answered “doctor” or “reporter” or “prosecutor,” but when it was his turn, his pipsqueak voice managed to say, “loved.” He didn’t understand the difference back then; dreams were dreams, and they were unscathed by the real world. 

 

Some of his friends never grew out of their fantasies. Perhaps they thought that the island was the only barrier between them and reaching the stars. Or maybe they just grew tired of staying in the same place—the same sights and sounds stifled their worlds. 

 

Like Kim Minseok, Baekhyun’s best friend since they were crawling toddlers. Minseok was always a studious one, never settling for less than #5 in the class rankings. Baekhyun always knew in the back of his mind that it would inevitably happen. It finally did in the first week of summer after graduation:

 

“Baekhyun...I had a lot of thinking time and I’ve decided that Jeju Island isn’t for me. I’ll be going to Seoul National University. Please don’t get it the wrong way! I love my family and you’ll always be the closest to me. Plus, it’s only a one-hour flight! Don’t look at me like that...” 

 

Baekhyun blinked hard, clearing the tears that threatened to spill over his eyes. He mustered a smile. “Oh Minseok, always chasing your dreams, hm? Don’t worry, I understand. I’ll...miss you...a lot”— _Ding Dong!_ — “I’ll get the door.”

 

He was halfway there when he realized something was off. Wait a minute...he wasn’t expecting any guests. No matter how deep he dug into his head, he did not strike any ring of the doorbell in this distant memory. 

 

_ Ding Dong!  _

 

Baekhyun’s eyes fling open, blankly taking in the familiar site of the cream ceiling that’s a few meters too low. Somewhere among the plainness of it all, he’s pretty sure a long time ago, the ceiling didn’t exist. He’s quite certain that when he used to look up, all he could see was the galaxy staring back at him, stars winking and the moon smiling despite being trapped in a web of darkness. It’s all gone now, painted over in modesty. The memories flood him like a high tide, and it’s too late to take the lost treasure back. 

 

_Ding Dong!_

 

He’s dead inside, but the doorbell is becoming too repetitive to ignore now. Baekhyun tries to slip out of the covers, ever-so-gracefully, but at the last second, he becomes tangled in the cocoon of blankets. He tumbles out instead, and as he does so the blankets unravel, leaving him strewn on the cold floor with nothing but a half-crushed dignity dangling lopsidedly in his mouth. 

 

A sharp pain shoots through his kneecap when he attempts to stand up. He bites his lip hard, trying not to let out a high-pitched shriek. Baekhyun results to holding his injured leg with one arm as the other grabs onto anything that can keep him steady. He hops all the way to the front door, each step taking another blow to his self-esteem, and somewhere in the middle of the muddled chaos, he thanks the Lord that no one is there to watch him suffer. 

 

As soon as he pulls himself together in front of the door, it suddenly strikes him that it’s Monday 7:02 am (he’s two minutes late, due to what he considers as a series of unfortunate coincidences): it’s delivery day! 

 

He doesn’t bother peering through the peephole to confirm his belief. Jerking the door open, he awaits the barrels crammed with fresh crab, mollusks, and—

 

Poles?

 

Baekhyun scans the two long rods that stick out of the ground, and as he moves his eyes upward, he realizes they are connected by...a hip?? Aha! They’re legs—that makes more sense. Judging by the way those legs stretch probably twice as long as his own, the guy is at least six feet. Baekhyun must tilt his head back to take a better look at the person standing in front of him. 

 

It’s a man, probably a few years older than him, but the first thing Baekhyun notices is that the guy is practically _glowing_. Not in the sense that his body is refracting rays of light, rather there is some sort of aura surrounding him. Maybe it’s his smile—Baekhyun has never seen such a big grin, not only brightening up the man’s face but engulfing Baekhyun into a trance that makes him feel warm inside. 

 

“H-hi. Is this the um, Crab Shack?” The man has a pleasantly deep voice, and although it’s a little unsure, it sends a tingle down Baekhyun’s spine, finally breaking the latter out of his trance. 

 

“Hmm? Oh yeah! You’re in the right place.” Baekhyun pauses for a moment, because if the man is here for the Crab Shack, then it must be for the weekly delivery. But Baekhyun is one hundred and fifty percent sure that the delivery boy is Kim Jongdae, _not_ whoever this guy is. In fact, now that Baekhyun thinks about it, it’s his first time seeing a stranger in months. 

 

He decides that unfamiliarity is the reason for the sudden phase that the stranger pulls him under. He swallows the unnecessary feelings, suppressing the extravagant distraction. 

 

The delivery boy sticks out his tongue in concentration as he fumbles in the back of his pocket. He pulls out a pen, and hands it to Baekhyun along with a clipboard. “Could you sign here please?” The delivery boy points at a spot on the clipboard, and Baekhyun notices that the boy has abnormally large hands. For a moment, Baekhyun almost forgets his own name. 

 

He feels a surge of heat rush to the apples of his cheek, and he quickly scrawls his signature as soon as the brain fart comes to an end. 

 

“Oh Baekhyun, that’s where you are.”

 

Baekhyun twists his head around, and finds Baekbeom still in pajamas, strolling to the door. Baekbeom at last spots the delivery boy. “Oh crap, I forgot it was a Monday. Baekhyun, you can go inside now.”

 

Baekhyun is about to throw a nasty glare at his brother, but upon remembering the presence of the delivery boy, he flashes the fakest smile humanly possible—yes, faker than Regina George when she meets Cady Heron at the lunch table—and says, “take care, _hyung_.” He reluctantly draws back into the house, peering through the sliver of an opening in the door for as long as possible, until the delivery boy disappears out of his line of sight. 

 

The beat of his heart contracting and relaxing echoes through his eardrums, but it’s only after a moment until the silence is back, wrapping around him softly.

 

** *** **

 

_ Baekhyun is sprinting, pumping his legs as hard as he can as adrenaline rushes through his veins. The pounding of his bare feet against the ground is in sync with his heartbeat.  _ Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. _His chest is on the brink of explosion._

 

_ He doesn’t know where he’s going, doesn’t know who he is or the world he’s in. All he knows is that he’s chasing the time that is fleeting from his fingertips; Baekhyun is swift, but time is faster.  _

 

_ He can see the edge now. The edge of the world is just a few paces away. Just on the other side, there’s a crowd of people in conglomeration. Baekhyun sees faces he knows—Minseok’s squishy cheeks lifting into a grin, Yifan’s stoic expression that still sends shivers down his spine, Jessica’s chic smile that he hasn’t seen in ages… He realizes that it’s all the people that used to be a part of his life, the people he used to know.  _

 

_ Baekhyun needs to get to the other side. He  _ needs _to catch up to them before they fade forever. Time has no mercy, at least not for him. He clenches his fists, digging his nails into his palms, and inhales deeply before the balls of his feet take off the ground..._

 

_ Someone’s fingers wrap around his wrists like handcuffs, cold to the touch. The hand yanks his arm forward and his head dangerously jerks back… _

 

Baekhyun’s eyes spring open, and this time it’s to a face that is all too familiar. 

 

“You’re finally awake! I forgot to tell you that I’m going to the music festival in Seoul. So, you’ll have to take care of the shack until I come back.” Baekbeom flops onto the bed, effectively crushing Baekhyun’s limbs underneath. 

 

The latter groans, and Baekhyun flails his legs in the air, pushing Baekbeom back onto his feet. 

 

Suddenly a rush of chilly air chills his body, and despite being fully clothed (in pajamas), he feels naked. He narrows his eyes, and there’s Baekbeom with the bed sheets piled on the ground. 

 

Baekhyun’s brother lifts one side of his lips into a slight smirk, and struts out the room, door slamming closed behind him. A few minutes later, Baekhyun hears a car engine turn on and eventually fade out into the distance.

 

The silence ensuing seems to be waiting for something. It hangs in the air, as if on edge and ready for any type of interruption. Baekhyun sort of likes the tranquility that he gets every once in a while. It’s just another reason why he doesn’t want to leave for the city; the constant clashing of noise suffocates him, the sound like parasites attacking his body. 

 

The sea on the other hand, is a happy medium of both. The tidal tempests serve as a steady humdrum in the backdrop of the activity of the Shack, but other days, the only artificial noise is the sound of his own light footsteps beneath him. 

 

_Ding Dong!_

 

He rolls his eyes. Well, his eyes are closed, but he still rolls his eyes underneath his eyelids. Baekbeom probably forgot something like he always does. Baekhyun pulls his covers back onto his bed, and covers his ears with a pillow.

 

_ Ding Dong! _ The doorbell comes muffled this time, but still audible nonetheless. By now, he’s muttering swear words under his breath. 

 

His patience fractures. “Use your fucking keys!” 

 

The silence ensuing seems to be waiting for something. It hangs in the air, as if on edge and ready for any type of interruption. But this time, there’s an awkward connotation to the break in the noise, and no matter to what extent he tries to relax, he can’t get rid of a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. 

 

At last he leaps out of his bed, this time flinging his blankets off smoothly, and soaring in the air in an arch before planting on his two feet. He grins, considering it as a sign of a good day (or perhaps, a repercussion for the embarrassment from a few days ago). 

 

As he stands before the front door, he suddenly recalls that the weekend was yesterday...which means that it’s Monday today. He glances at his watch—the shorter hand points at 7:00, and the other has just passed the 12 mark. 

 

Baekhyun bites his lip and peers through the peephole of the door. He takes in a sight full of... arms?? Baekhyun clearly remembers the delivery boy’s eminent characteristic being those long pole-like legs, but this new discovery leaves him speechless. He’s sure that Jeju has strict gun policies, but boy would Baekhyun kill to have _those guns_. 

 

As a lover of the indoors and preoccupied by the Crab Shack, Baekhyun didn’t realize that the weather was changing. But when he opens the door, a rush of warm air replaces the air-conditioned artificiality of inside. The sun kisses the horizon, wrapping the quaint town in the pleasant warmth of the morning light. It’s these times, if Baekhyun is alone, when there’s a pause in the world—when time holds its breath and stands still for a moment. Amid all the confusion, he becomes conscious for a split second, aware of the bigger picture and what it means to be alive. 

 

But he is not alone, and this time his relaxation is offset by the delivery boy and his sheepish, lopsided smile. Delivery boy has one arm behind his head, his fingers tangled in his silver hair. His white tank top hugs his sculpted body, as if showing off. 

 

“Good morning sir, your weekly order is here. Would you like us to repeat the same procedure for unloading the catch?” 

 

The delivery boy’s words flow in one of Baekhyun’s ears and out the other. It isn’t until delivery boy clears his throat when he finally realizes what’s going on. 

 

“Oh, sorry! Yeah, that’d be great.” Baekhyun lowers his head, trying to hide the flush in his face. 

 

After an extended moment of silence, Baekhyun steals a glance back upward. Delivery boy is no longer in front of him now, but in the driveway, his back turned toward Baekhyun. Even from a distance away, Baekhyun can observe the flexing of delivery boy’s muscles as he unloads the barrels of soon-to-be-seafood from the truck. 

 

The Crab Shack is just right next door to the Byun’s home. It’s convenient for most of the time, on the days he can slink back to watch his favorite girl group perform without being noticed by Baekbeom. Baekhyun doesn’t know what, maybe it’s the realization that summer is in the air, but something makes him feel a little braver that day. With a quick mental calculation, he finds the best route from his front door to the Crab Shack, making sure to stay inconspicuous. 

 

The execution is efficient to say the least, and just a minute later, he’s out of breath (and clearly, out of shape) but safe behind the front desk of the shack. He collapses onto the table, his head automatically turned so that the side of his face is pressed against the cool surface. 

 

The slight hum of the fan from above leaks monotony, and when monotony combines with the pleasant juxtaposition of the warm summer air and the cool surface-top, his eyes can’t help but fall closed. Soon, another background noise is added to the air—the faint snores escaping his lips in between breaths. 

 

** *** **

 

“Excuse me!”

 

Baekhyun jolts to his senses. His head jerks backward, and little does he know there’s a wooden cabinet right behind him (okay, well he did know but he forgot). 

 

“Ow…” he groans as he holds the backside of his head. He can already tell that a bruise will form. 

 

“Are you alright?”

 

It’s the same deep voice again, and Baekhyun holds his breath as he spins his chair to face the intruder. Sure enough, it is him, and Baekhyun just can’t seem to tear his eyes off those muscles that are flexing under the weight of a barrel. 

 

“Yeah...haha...I’m good.” He chuckles nervously. 

 

“Okay good, that looked painful. Oh, and you have something right there.” Delivery boy points to the corner of his own lips. 

 

Baekhyun thinks that it would have been better if the sky fell right then and there. His fingers fly to his mouth, and he wipes the drool off in one swift motion. He attempts to keep a straight face, but inside he’s practically dying with embarrassment. 

 

Baekhyun can feel the delivery boy staring at him intently, the pressure of the latter’s eyes drilling holes into his skin. He has an urge to crawl inside a hole, but there’s nowhere to hide. So much for feeling a little bit braver today! 

 

When he looks up again, delivery boy is _still_ staring at him, and for a second, he thinks, maybe he really is fucking ugly. 

 

“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re not ugly at all. Quite the contrary, actually.”

 

Baekhyun blinks. And he blinks again. He isn’t sure if he heard correctly, but he swears that he saw those lips move. It takes a moment of realization before his bottom jaw drops slightly, and not only does he want the sky to fall, but perhaps if a sudden earthquake hit that swallows him down to the center of the earth, that would be even more ideal. 

 

“I—.” He chokes on his words, not wanting to speak any further just in case something else comes out that he doesn’t mean to say. 

 

“Don’t worry about it, I should be the one apologizing.” Delivery boy bows quickly, and Baekhyun is left dumbfounded as the taller resumes his activity, carrying the barrel with such effortless ease to the kitchen. 

 

It is theoretically impossible for the situation to get more awkward—the overwhelming silence that is more of a burden than a relief, the lingering embarrassment that still leaves Baekhyun’s face feeling like a tomato, the fact that the delivery boy is moving heavy barrels of seafood while all he does is just sit in a chair and _stare_ … 

 

It’s not that Baekhyun is attracted to the delivery boy. He admits that the 6-foot-tall guy is physically attractive, handsome even, but it’s purely an envious type of admiration. Delivery boy is a guy, and Baekhyun is sure that he himself is straighter than the delivery boy’s pole-like legs. It has been too long since Baekhyun has fallen for anyone. He is certain, the adamancy a bit too insistent, that the faint fluttering of his heart is a few stray hormones flying around. It will be gone the moment delivery boy steps out of the store, once the image of the toned physique is out of sight. 

 

At least, that’s what he tells himself. Because attraction is a _feeling_ , and Baekhyun doesn’t deal with hyper-sentimental bullshit. Because feelings are messy, confusing at best, and they hurt substantially. 

 

** *** **

 

Baekbeom is gone for the next few days, because apparently the music festival is “one week long,” but Baekhyun is not stupid—he knows that it is only three days maximum. 

 

That means Baekhyun oversees running the Crab Shack, which is probably not the best idea, but he’s starting to get a hang of the whole “restaurant owner” presence. The only fact preventing him from quitting every morning is that the shack doesn’t open until 11:00 am, which means 4 hours of free time at most, and only one if he sleeps in. 

 

It’s been two days since the most shameful moment of his twenty-three-year life, but he still can’t stop thinking about that one hour, which _should_ be irrelevant compared to the all the time that has passed. But every time he mulls over the humiliating implications of his words and actions, his thoughts can’t help but turn to the delivery boy himself. Like his deep voice that sounds pleasant when uttering words that are drenched in politeness, the occasional smiles worthy of a toothpaste commercial, and—Baekhyun sighs—those poles and guns are _killer_. Oh, how Baekhyun wants to be the delivery boy so badly! 

 

The sun has barely peaked above the horizon, its rays casting long shadows in his orange-tinted bedroom, when he slips out of bed. He moves nimbly through his house, meticulous in his movements as to not cause a ruckus. No one is home, but today is a disruption in his usual schedule, and for that reason he feels conspicuously scandalous. 

 

The door opens with a click, and instead of the rush of warm air he expects to encounter, the breeze is cool, slightly tingly in contact with his skin. After all, it is early—just a quarter after 6:00 am. It’s his first time being out so early in a while now; he can’t remember the last time the bustling sound of the port failed to reach his ears no matter where he was outside. But as soon as his feet hit the pavement, a calm washes over his system. All that worries him seems to disappear (which frankly, is not much, but it’s the only way to explain this sensation). 

 

Despite the relatively miniscule population of the town that is literally tied to his blood and bones, the silence makes Baekhyun feel suddenly alone and lost in the vast, chaotic universe—to know he’s only one component of the billions upon billions of lives that mother nature so kindly nurtures is daunting. The thought has always been in the back of his mind, suppressed by the distractions that contaminate his time, like work and errands, or simply videogames. 

 

When was the last time he truly had an opportunity to _think_? The earth spins inevitably, the town keeps moving, life goes on, and no one waits for people who lag behind. But at 6:15 am, when no one is there to telling him to hurry up, there’s a pause in the world, like holding one’s breath except magnified by a million times. And although some when faced by this gap of activity become scared—and why wouldn’t they be afraid? The world is so boundless that one individual life hardly matters, even if completely gone from earth’s surface—Baekhyun instead appreciates the silence he did not know he needed. 

 

The whole town is tinted a warm gold, as if touched by King Midas himself, and the sea acts like a mirror, reflecting the ombre clouds and the sun rays that stretch across the sky in a shy greeting. The green rolling hills behind him look jade in the morning light, like the sleeping dragons in the folklore his grandmother used to tell him as a child. 

 

To know that in a few decades, the island may not look so colorful and kissed by nature, a deep appreciation sparks in his chest. What a time to be alive!

 

He’s not sure how long it takes for him to walk down the curved path of rocks, a supposed shortcut to the ports he discovered years ago during the summertime with Minseok, but the sun is fully emerged by the time he reaches the center of the city that is strangely quiet. 

 

Baekhyun usually stays away from the port and its shenanigans, which is ironic because he refuses to move away from the island, and half of the catch goes to the Crab Shack. But the port is never changing; it’s still the same port from years ago, back to his first memory of running down the dock when the fishermen returned. 

 

Perhaps “staying away” isn’t the right term, but there is never a reason for him to go to the port. Now though, when the port is silent, it’s a different picture altogether. The tide is low, the waters crashing softly against the gray rocks, a steady rhythm like nature’s heartbeat. The boats are lined uniformly against the dock, ranging from worn down canoes to the standard fishing boat, and even a sailboat or two for the wealthy government officials. =

 

There are no tourists on this side of the island, where the waters are deep blue instead of tropical. And so, the port is small, but it fits all the needs of the village. When it is placid like now, Baekhyun can’t help but fall back in love with it again. 

 

He almost forgets why he’s there in the first place as his voice is caught beneath his surprise. He only remembers when a most disgusting creature interrupts his fantasy—a seagull _dares_ to come up to him and make a filthy gurgling noise!

 

Baekhyun _detests_ seagulls, and all things with beaks and wings for that matter. “Fuck off!” He swings his leg at the seagull, hoping to shoo it away. 

 

But the seagull opposes nature’s laws and starts running toward him! That _thing_ with lunatic eyes and a predatory hooked mouth hobbles side to side, rendering the taste of vomit in the back of his throat.

 

The fight-or-flight response kicks in, and Baekhyun begins to pump his (short) legs as hard as possible to flee away. “AHHH!” His scream shatters the calming silence and echoes down the empty port. He is terribly out of shape, so he shuts his eyes in an attempt at getting rid of visual distractions. 

 

Suddenly his body collides full force into a foreign object, knocking the breath out of his lungs. All he knows when he opens his eyes is the sight of the ground a few inches in front of his eyes.

 

It’s too late to change his fate. He braces himself for the impact. But somehow, when he opens his eyes again, the ground is still the same distance away, still dangerously close to the tip of his nose. Something, or someone, has a grip of his wrist, preventing him from falling, but not pulling him up either. 

 

Baekhyun twists his neck to see who it is. The figure’s face is obscured by a cap, but it doesn’t take long after seeing the toned biceps to tell who it is. 

 

Baekhyun flails instinctively, his arm jerking out of the hold, which is a terrible solution when he finds himself on all fours and a sharp pain on his kneecap. 

 

“Hey, are you alright?” Delivery boy crouches down to Baekhyun’s level, offering one hand out. 

 

Baekhyun hesitantly takes a hold of the hand, his own dwarfed in comparison. Delivery boy hauls him up with a powerful pull, but Baekhyun’s knees are still weak and he ends up trembling, albeit back on his feet. 

 

“Oh! It’s you again.” Delivery boy’s face lights up in recognition. “Was it also you yelling just now?”

 

Baekhyun gulps. “Yeah...haha...I don’t know what I was doing,” he lies and tries to shake off the worsening pain. 

 

“What are you doing out here so early?” Delivery boy continues the conversation. Each second that passes, Baekhyun’s heart speeds up one hundred-fold. 

 

“You know,” Baekhyun quickly glances at his surroundings, trying to think of a passable excuse. In the distance, the _creature_ catches his eye (his heart leaps at the fact that it’s _still there_ ). “...Feeding seagulls!” He grins ever-so-fakely.

 

Delivery boy raises his eyebrows, and then his face contorts into a frown. “You might want to be careful with that. I heard it makes the seagull overweight and decreases its agility to fly.”

 

Baekhyun’s face falls, and he begins questioning his existence. 

 

Delivery boy must have seen the change in expression, because he’s quick to correct his words. “I’m just kidding! I think I read that on some candy wrapper a long time ago, so it’s probably not true.” He’s silent for a moment and scans Baekhyun’s face. 

 

Baekhyun feels very judged, but delivery boy has large, soft eyes that erase any malice. He doesn’t mind being judged for a bit longer. 

 

“Plus, it’s cute,” delivery boy mutters softly. 

 

Baekhyun blinks. It takes a while for him to process the words that came from delivery boy’s lips. It’s the first time someone has called him cute. Charming, handsome, hell—even sexy, but never cute. It’s an odd adjective for a twenty-three-year-old man, but he doesn’t think there are any negative connotations attached. Instead, his stomach does a flip-flop, and he hopes his face isn’t as red as he feels they are. 

 

“Oh, by the way! What’s your name?” Delivery boy asks as he shakes his bangs out of his eyes. 

 

“B-Baekhyun.” It comes out like a gurgle, his lips trembling slightly, and his jaw locked up. 

 

“Nice to meet you Baekhyun, I’m Park Chanyeol.” Chanyeol reaches out a hand. 

 

Baekhyun takes it, once again being dwarfed in comparison. Chanyeol has a warm, firm grip when he shakes Baekhyun’s hand. The latter thinks it’s kind of nice; maybe all the embarrassing moments are worth it. His choices may not have any impact on the greater universe, but this very moment could determine the rest of his fate. And that’s what life truly is about, isn’t it?

 

** *** **

 

Baekbeom is returning tomorrow, which means today is Baekhyun’s last day of freedom before the endless orders and demands to be fulfilled are thrown into his way. 

 

The walk to the port has left Baekhyun a changed man. Somewhere along the way back home, he stopped in his tracks and decided that life was too short to discard the seemingly useless hours. He would strive to make his life meaningful, and the first step is to stop being the epitome of a couch potato. 

 

His alarm is set to 6:00 am now, a solid four hours earlier than his prior, what he calls, “unproductive days.” Instead of living underneath his covers for another hour before actually leaving his bed, he makes an effort to get out of bed after a maximum of five minutes from opening his eyes to the sun-lit room.

 

Not only did Baekhyun change his sleeping habits, he also attempted to dress in a better manner—he’s practically a beauty guru. Heck, he could already imagine his life as a social influencer: baekhyunee_exo with 11 million followers on Instagram. Just yesterday, he ordered a (real) Supreme hoodie, a pair of fake yeezys, and a fake Gucci belt, which came with a free empty wallet. What is the term that millennials use these days? #hypebeast?

 

Just like puberty struck him late, he supposes the concept of adulting did as well. He stalled for as long as possible, burying his responsibilities under robotic tasks with the illusion of “helping out.” But it’s always just the same cycle in his daily activities, never getting to truly appreciate the potentials around him. But now that he has finally begun his adulting process, finally self-realizing that he needs to get himself together, it feels refreshing. 

 

This time when 7:00 am rolls around the corner, Baekhyun is more prepared than ever. His eyes are lined lightly with kohl—a new trick he picked up and mastered a few days ago after watching countless tutorials and poking his eye too many times. The effect gives him a more mature look, and if he could say so himself, he looks...sexy. 

 

But when it’s already 7:02, he frowns. Delivery boy—Chanyeol—is _always_ punctual. It’s himself that is usually late… He doesn’t know why, but he begins to feel uneasy. Perhaps he’s just overreacting, but Baekhyun’s stomach does flip flops, tossing like the waves he hears that break through the overwhelming stillness of the room. Maybe, this is what it feels like. To want to be like someone, you know? Because Baekhyun is 100% straight. But perhaps all his life, he has been rounding a 99.9% to a solid one-hundred. One in a thousand is hardly noticeable after all, but when the stars align… 

 

_ Ding Dong! _ His whole body jerks at the doorbell ringing. His arm shoots out and slams into the wall in the confined bathroom. He winces, holding his elbow with the other hand while gritting his teeth to bite back the scream that attempts to escape his lips. 

 

He rushes to the door, all the while trying to suppress the pain as much as possible. Sure enough, Chanyeol is standing at the door in a black tank top that sticks to his body. A thin sheen of sweat making his body glow in the morning light. He shakes his head like a dog, and his damp hair settles into an organized mess—that is, as if it is styled purposefully in a messy manner. Baekhyun has always known that Chanyeol is blessed physically, but never could he imagine someone that looks like a _god_. 

 

“Sorry I’m late, I somehow got a flat tire last night.” As Chanyeol speaks, Baekhyun’s eyes dart to the black ink that lines the muscle on the delivery boy’s forearm. It’s some combination of Romanized characters, Latin most likely. All Baekhyun knows is that Chanyeol’s presence is overwhelming; any previous stomach flutters are paled in comparison to the way he feels now—not exactly nervous, more like a high that he has no control over.

 

Baekhyun doesn’t remember going through any thought process before he opens his mouth, doesn’t even hear the words that tumble off his tongue. All he knows is that he says something along the lines of “do you want to grab breakfast at the Crab Shack?” without any context whatsoever, not knowing he had the guts until it’s already over.

 

Chanyeol stares at him in a shocked expression, his eyes wide and mouth half open in a clueless expression. Baekhyun’s own heart skips a beat in a bad way, a sudden panic seizing his mental state. “Ah, only if you want to! That is, if you haven’t eaten breakfast already! Or are you allergic to seafood? Wait I’m stupid, you unload seafood every day.” He tries to fill what would be an awkward silence with random strings of sentences. 

 

When Baekhyun finally runs out of breath to speak further, he glances at Chanyeol awkwardly. He doesn’t expect to see the latter chuckling light-heartedly, the deep but soft laughter almost soothing to his ears.

 

“Of course I’ll come. Mrs. Bae gave us some oysters as a welcoming gift, but I never got to try any. Also, I don’t think she gets the only thing I’m focusing on is the food and _not_ her daughter.” 

 

Baekhyun knows he is supposed to be grateful, and so he does grin, but hearing Chanyeol’s last sentence makes him hesitant. Irene Bae is _gorgeous_...could Chanyeol mean that he simply isn’t interested in love? 

 

Baekhyun processes his last thought and mentally slaps himself. What has gotten into him these days? 

 

** *** **

 

There’s a breeze flowing through the wide-open window, carrying the sound and scent of the sea. It’s just strong enough to push his golden hair back, so when Baekhyun sticks his head out the window, he feels as though he’s sailing on top of the water. The cloudless sky is a striking azure, as if acting like a mirror. If he closes his eyes, he swears he can almost fly away...

 

Someone once told him that he was like the Pacific. But in this instant, Baekhyun does not want to be the ocean, vast and unknowable. He wants to be the waves. He wants to learn how to rise and fall simply following nature’s law, how to break without falling apart.

 

“It’s really nice, isn’t it?” He feels a pool of warmth to his side, and when he turns his head away from the picture-perfect scene, there’s Chanyeol, head propped up and elbows on the window sill. 

 

“Yeah.” Baekhyun is still breathless when he speaks to Chanyeol. He doesn’t really know why either. Chanyeol is a nice fellow, and Baekhyun is certain that they will be _great_ friends. “It is.”

 

“See, this is what I love about this island. On the other side where I lived, there are tourists that litter every corner of the town, and sky scrapers like the ones you would see in the mainland. But just across the hills, the landscape is so different.” Chanyeol pauses. The corner of his lips curl upward. “Everyone is so happy here.”

 

Baekhyun can’t help but silently agree. The latter sometimes forgets that the island is home for over half a million people. The way Chanyeol talks makes him sound educated, and Baekhyun plucks up the courage to continue the conversation just to hear more of Chanyeol’s insight. 

 

“Do you like it here better or the city?” 

 

The breeze stops for a moment, as if listening to their conversation. Chanyeol shrugs. “I don’t think I’ve been here long enough to make a judgement. Plus, I’ll always spend time in both places anyway.”

 

Baekhyun furrows his eyebrows. “What do you mean both?” 

 

“Ah right! I forgot that we hardly know much about each other. I’m a college student.” Chanyeol grins and points at the logo on his tank top. The blue and green logo for “Jeju National University” stares straight back at Baekhyun. 

 

Baekhyun stops in his tracks. If Chanyeol is a college student, then… “Wait, are you saying that you’re younger than me?” 

 

Chanyeol raises his eyebrows. “Am I? I’m turning twenty-three in November.”

 

Baekhyun’s lower jaw falls slightly before he remembers his manners and closes his mouth. “Oh my God. I’m six months older than you.”

 

The surprised look on Chanyeol’s face disappears. “You scared me for a second. I thought you were going to say like six years!” He winks and both hands forms gun signs. “Hey, at least I don’t have to call you _‘hyung_ ,’ am I right?”

 

Baekhyun’s face breaks out into a grin, albeit still surprised at the childish gesture from someone he associates with manliness. 

 

“So, what about you?” As the words leave Chanyeol’s lips, he places his hand on Baekhyun’s head and ruffles Baekhyun’s head, catching the blonde by surprise and messing his hair up even further. 

 

Baekhyun gapes at Chanyeol, the latter’s question flowing in one ear and out the next. When Chanyeol draws his hand back, muttering an apology, Baekhyun exclaims, “no need to apologize! I was just surprised that’s all. You can keep ruffling my hair… err, that is if you want! What was your question again?”

 

Unexpectedly, Chanyeol indeed stretches his hand and ruffles Baekhyun’s hair once more. “I asked, ‘what about you?’ How would you compare the island and the city?”

 

Maybe he’s just imagining things, but Baekhyun’s heart hammers in his chest so loudly that he’s afraid that Chanyeol might hear. He swallows, hoping that maybe it would turn down the deafening rhythm. 

 

“I guess you could say there’s a reason I stayed when everyone left.” His throat is unbearably dry, and the words are difficult to force out. He swallows once more. “It’s not that I hate the city. I just… can’t imagine starting a life somewhere I’m so unfamiliar with.” 

 

Chanyeol nods. “I understand. The city is so different from here. Well, if I owned the Crab Shack, I probably would stay as well.” 

 

Baekhyun springs from his seat. “Oh! That reminds me! I almost forgot about our food.” He glances at the kitchen, but the door is closed, and the lights turned off. “But the cooks aren’t here yet…”

 

“That’s okay. I can always come later in the day.”

 

“No! Err...no, you don’t need to,” Baekhyun says sheepishly. “If you want, I could cook for you, although I can’t guarantee how great it would turn out.”

 

“How about we make something together? I’ve picked up a few things here and there when watching others cook,” Chanyeol suggests. Baekhyun nods and breathes a sigh of relief, thankful that he would not have to be 100% responsible for any hazards. 

 

They head back toward the kitchen, Baekhyun leading the way and Chanyeol following. The latter is so tall that he bumps into the door frame, causing Baekhyun to burst into laughter.

 

They make the ultimate dynamic duo: Baekhyun knows the instructions by heart, and Chanyeol carries them out meticulously. But this time, they don't care about the product; it's the journey that matters. Between scaling fish and boiling clams, from the stolen snippets of time, they form a conversation. Somewhere faraway in a quiet town, two souls talk of faraway dreams, strung together by vivid memories, every word bringing them closer.

 

And when Baekhyun finds himself constantly smiling, Chanyeol's laugh lighting up his insides, he thinks, maybe the stars have finally aligned.

 

** *** **

 

Baekhyun rises with the rays of the sun, his eyes fluttering open as the light refracts through the patterns of his curtains. There's a new energy when he wakes up today: the first thing he realizes when he wakes up is that it's Monday, and a smile stretches from ear to ear. He actually wants to get out of his bed, anticipating how the day will turn out.

 

In the last month of summer, Mondays become a part of their tradition. It's all Baekhyun can look forward to for the entirety of the week, yearning for a new adventure with Chanyeol, eager to know more about the newcomer.

 

The second Monday of August, Baekhyun gives the long-awaited tour. Surprisingly it lasts for the entire day, as Baekhyun can literally go in front of every house and name the family that lives there. It has been a while since he has revisited the secret nooks and crannies of the town, tucked away memories of his childhood flooding back. Chanyeol is the best guest to have, always curious about anything and everything.

 

"Baekhyun, why is the heart of the city a bar?"

 

“Well, you know what they say about fishermen. They’ve been so long out for sea that all they feel is loneliness and they need to drink their problems away.” 

 

“Is that why you’re not a fisherman?” 

 

Baekhyun laughs. “Nah, I just suck at swimming.”

 

An outsider, perhaps Mrs. Bae as she glances at them walking together on the streets, would say, “what great friends they are!” But Baekhyun wonders, would it be bad to be a little bit more than “just friends?”

 

This Monday, a mystery awaits: it's Chanyeol's turn to decide what the two are doing for the day. Although Chanyeol has only been here for a fraction of the time Baekhyun has lived on the island, the latter knows that whatever scheduled will be a novel experience. And so, it is not a coincidence that his life became exciting when Chanyeol entered. 

 

5:02 am, when the sun is still behind the hills and the night breeze still cools the pavement beneath their feet, Baekhyun hears a light knock on his window. His hair still disheveled and eyes still swollen, he peaks behind his bedroom curtains. Sure enough, Chanyeol is grinning at him in the semi-darkness. 

 

Baekhyun changes into a hoodie and joggers before sneaking out the front door, careful not to make any sounds as to wake up Baekbeom. His brother thinks that Baekhyun's weekly absences are due to an internship, but if the former finds out that Baekhyun is hanging out with a friend, he would probably be under house arrest forever. 

 

A tall figure dressed in black awaits. "So, what do you have planned for today?" Baekhyun stands on his tiptoes, snatches Chanyeol's Adidas cap and places it on his own head.

 

The taller links his arm through Baekhyun's. "You'll see," he teases. Baekhyun's stomach does a flip-flop as the two walk toward Chanyeol's delivery truck. 

 

Chanyeol is a total reckless driver, and Baekhyun wonders how the hell the seafood survives the delivery to the Crab Shack every week. Baekhyun would rather walk to wherever their destination is, would rather have his feet hurt for days if it is more than a few miles. But no, the reality is worse. Instead, he grips his seats' handlebars until his knuckles turn white, all along praying that his seat belt is enough to keep him in his seat.

 

"Chanyeol, when did you get your license?" By now, he can feel the undigested food in his stomach sloshing along with the car's lurches.

 

"When I was 16. I passed with a score right on the cut off line. Why?" 

 

"Just wondering!" At last, Baekhyun has finally found a flaw in Chanyeol, although it's a flaw that could cost them their lives. He turns back to look in front of him at the road, trying not to notice how many red lights Chanyeol runs through. 

 

Before dawn, mist hangs in the air, illuminated by the headlights that contrast greatly with the darkness. Little spots of light float in the night, always managing to catch Baekhyun's breath as if it's still his first time seeing fireflies. Fireflies glow from the inside out, sort of like how Chanyeol makes his heart warm. 

 

"Where are we going?" Baekhyun asks, his body finally calming down as he learns to accept that Chanyeol won't drive any safer. 

 

"Be patient." Chanyeol places his right hand on Baekhyun's knee, and the blonde almost forgets to breathe. "I promise you'll like it."

 

** * **

 

The car parks at the bottom of a hill just outside of town half an hour later. It's completely dark, not a single residential home or building in sight. 

 

"Follow me," Chanyeol whispers, engulfing Baekhyun's hand into his own. Baekhyun must jog to catch up with Chanyeol's large strides as they make their way up the grassy hill. Baekhyun realizes that the hill is not well-known to the rest of the island, as there is no path to walk on, and his shoes become soaked from the dew covering the grass. But he can't complain; he feels special with the thought that there is a place only he and Chanyeol know. 

The top of the hill snatches Baekhyun's breath away—it's a type of majestic beauty that is only seen in cinematic films, but here he's experiencing in real dimension. The ocean is in the distance, with the sun peeking out from just behind it, like a candle fracturing the navy-blue sky that still captures the twinkling stars. The moon hangs on the other side, and although it is reflecting back sunlight, it still radiates peacefully on its own. Baekhyun reaches out his hand, and he may look foolish, but he swears he can almost graze the constellations with his fingertips. 

"Look." Chanyeol wraps one arm around Baekhyun's shoulder, and points with the other hand. "It's where we live." Sure enough, if Baekhyun looks closely, in the vast darkness next to the ocean, he can make out a patch of light. Maybe it's just an intuition that comes with living in the town, but he just _knows_ it's home. 

"How did you find this place?" Baekhyun turns toward Chanyeol. A ray of sunlight illuminates half of Chanyeol's face, while the other is defined by shadows, and Baekhyun wonders if Chanyeol is a piece of artwork. 

"When I'm bored, I take my truck out driving. I like to be alone sometimes, just me and the universe. So when I discovered this place, it was just perfect. I come here to think a lot."

"What do you think about?" Baekhyun asks. The morning is a little chilly, and he scoots a little closer to the delivery boy. 

Chanyeol doesn't reply at first. Perhaps he's just hesitant, maybe he wants to think of how to phrase his words. When he finally does speak, he replies, "this sounds kind of silly, but I think of my future a lot. I came into college not knowing what I wanted to do." Chanyeol's face is solemn as he gives his monologue. "Most of my friends, they had a brick path paved by their parents that would lead to security and relative success, but my parents didn't do that for me. Well actually they did, but I chose not to walk that road to become a prosecutor like my parents wanted. Everyone just wants to be more successful and wealthier than the people they know. They're so distracted that they don't stop and think, what will they do after? What does it all lead up to?" Chanyeol turns toward Baekhyun and their eyes lock. Baekhyun tries to block out the sound of his heart pounding to hear Chanyeol's words. "While everyone else went to Seoul for college, I stayed behind because I wanted to learn how to be happy first. I never imagined I would find inner peace until my family moved and I picked up the job as the delivery boy, and I guess, after I met you.”

Baekhyun's chest hurts—he knows too well of the brick road that all his friends took, that he took as well. But somewhere along that journey, at the very last moment, he chose a different path that led him to the crashing waves. From that point on, it appears “FAILURE” was plastered on his face. 

His voice is soft, a little tender compared to the powerfulness of Chanyeol's. "So, what exactly is your dream?"

Chanyeol laughs, but this time Baekhyun doesn't understand why the situation is funny. "I just want to make my mark on the world. To be remembered instead of just another face in the sea of nobodies. I don't know how it'll be done yet, but I don't think I will stop until it happens."

"That's a daring dream, but I think you can do it." Baekhyun smiles lightly, and Chanyeol mirrors it too. 

"Baek, what about you?" Chanyeol leans his head on Baekhyun's shoulder. 

"What about me?"

"What's your dream?"

After a moment of silence, Baekhyun's reply spills out of his mouth. "To love and be loved." 

As they watch the sunrise, he realizes that he only has the last half of his dream to fulfill. 

 

** *** **

 

Next Monday, Baekhyun teaches Chanyeol how to fish. Baekhyun finds another weakness in the taller, who can't seem to put a worm on the fishing hook for life. The delivery boy's excuse is that he experienced several fish traumas, something like seeing fish cannibalism, murder, and suffocation. Baekhyun doesn't understand—Chanyeol delivers fish to the Crab Shack every week, but he laughs it off. The more mistakes Chanyeol makes, the more human he becomes. The more Baekhyun falls for him, the more the blonde feels as though he is flying. The two end up only catching two trout (all Baekhyun's work), and after dinner both fish are gone. They share memories, laughter, and secrets late into the night. For Baekhyun, he's reluctant to sleep because he doesn't want the day to end. 

On the last Monday of the summer, Chanyeol tells Baekhyun to meet on the hill again. This time the two arrive on their separate ways, and Baekhyun has to "borrow" Baekbeom's car to get there. 

Chanyeol stands sheepishly, eyes never leaving the ground when Baekhyun arrives. There's a cold ambience, out of place juxtaposed to the glow of the sunrise. Baekhyun has memorized every detail of Chanyeol now, from his large ears to the mole on his right shoulder, and the way he always looks to the right when he's deep in thought. Baekhyun loves all these traits, and wants to see them every day. But Baekhyun can also tell when something is wrong—it’s the way Chanyeol has his hands deep in his pockets and won't stop biting his lips. 

"Hey Baekhyun," Chanyeol mutters. 

"Hey," Baekhyun whispers back. There's an awkward silence afterward—shuffling feet and eyes that dodge away from each other's gaze. 

"I have something to tell you"—

"Are you okay?"—Their words overlap and collide as they open their mouths at the same time. 

"You can say what you were going to first," Baekhyun offers. His cheeks are flushed a light pink, from the heat or embarrassment, he doesn't know.

"Okay, do you want to hear the good part or the bad part first?"

"The good part."

"I think I've figured out what I want to do," Chanyeol says, a grin splitting his face. 

 

Baekhyun smiles too, claps Chanyeol on the back and says, "that's great! I knew you would figure it out."

"I got a bioengineering job offer. But...it's in Seoul."

Baekhyun continues to have a smile pasted on his face. It doesn't reach his eyes and it's so, so fake. "What did you say?" he asks desperately, not wanting to believe his ears.

"It's in Seoul," Chanyeol repeats, except this time he's no longer smiling. Perhaps he caught how the glimmer in Baekhyun's eyes disappeared. 

"That's still...I'm still happy for you!" Baekhyun is good at keeping unwanted emotions away. He's good at faking it, ignoring the sudden bullet in his chest and pretending it doesn't hurt. 

"I'm starting out as an assistant researcher, but apparently I have a lot of potential to make it high in the company. Or at least that's what my interviewer said" Chanyeol is avoiding eye contact again now. However, Baekhyun can hear the smile in the taller's voice. "I know that I said I like the city life...but after I saw how beautiful this island is, I can't just sit here and do nothing while environmental destruction withers down the nature until there is nothing left. I really want to do this."

"Chanyeol, stop giving me reasons for your departure. I already said that I support you completely. When do you leave?"

The grin is back on Chanyeol's face, and Baekhyun still thinks it glows brighter than the sun. 

"Tomorrow."

If Chanyeol listens closely, he would hear the slow fracturing of a heart into pieces so small that they can't be put back together again. But Baekhyun is good at saving his tears for the pillow. He continues to smile, not knowing that Chanyeol is waiting for Baekhyun to beg him to stay. 

Baekhyun is also good at keeping his mouth shut. When he sees Chanyeol off at the airport the next day, he still has not told Chanyeol of his true feelings. 

It's Deja vú all over again; he's lost count of how many times people have left him alone, empty promises to visit during the holidays, but really, it always ends up just being Baekhyun and the Crab Shack. Utterly alone. 

But never, never has it hurt as much as it does now, like a gradual crushing of a dream.

 

***

 

** Epilogue **

Baekhyun has always thought of himself as one with the sea. It could be any kind of sea—tropical tides home of coral reefs, stormy waves that crash against rocky ships and sending them down below, or even out in the middle of nowhere, in which the only sight of 360 degrees is the sky kissing the water. 

He closes his eyes and inhales deeply, taking in the aroma of ocean salt that always lingers in the air. Lungs fill with serenity. His tongue flickers to moisten his lips, and he swears he can taste the ocean. It tastes like freedom, he thinks, and although it’s something he experiences on the daily, it’s a flavor that never exhausts his taste buds. Ahh...liberation at last. 

3… 2… 1… The shopkeepers bell crafted of sea shells jingles, alerting Baekhyun of an entering customer that Baekhyun predicted would come precisely at that moment. 

"Good morning Mrs. Bae."

But it's not Mrs. Bae's shrill voice who answers. 

"Hi, I'm the CEO of Park Energy. Would you be interested in installing a compost-run energy system?"

Baekhyun glances upward. A tall figure dressed in a tuxedo with hair slicked back stands in front of the counter. Baekhyun can recognize those pole-like legs and deep voice anywhere.

"Is your company Seoul-based?" he asks. 

The man straightens his tie and clears his throat before he says, "no. It's Jeju-based."

Baekhyun's can feel the corners of his mouth tugging upward before breaking into a grin that could light up the whole island. "Then of course, CEO Park Chanyeol."

Chanyeol hands Baekhyun a business card. On the back in dark blue print it reads:

 

_ Our mission is to make a mark on the world and fulfill everyone's dream. You are loved. _

_ -CEO and founder, Park Chanyeol _

 

** END **

 

 

 

 


End file.
